Interview machine

ABSTRACT

An interview machine having a first memory unit for storing a series of questions to be asked, mechanism for transmitting the questions to a person being interviewed and for receiving the answers from him, a second memory unit for recording either all the answers or the complete interview including both the questions and the answers, and including control means for establishing appropriate time relationships.



1. An interview machine comprising: a question storage memory adapted for storing a series of questions to be asked of an interviewee, and having associated means for retrieving each question from the memory and communicating it in audible form to the interviewee; an answer storage memory adapted for storing a series of answers given by the interviewee; manually operable means for causing the first question of the series to be communicated to the interviewee; and timing and control means responsive if the question is not answered within a predetermined period of time for causing the next question of the series to be communicated to the interviewee, and responsive if an answer is initiated within said predetermined period of time for delaying the retrieval and communication of the next question until the answer has been completed; whereby the interviewee upon initiating his answer within said predetermined period of time may give as long an answer as he desires, and upon completion of his answer the machine automatically communicates the next question of the series to him.
 2. An interview machine comprising: a question storage tape adapted for storing a series of questions to be asked of an interviewee, having associated drive means for selectively starting and stopping the tape, and also having associated means operable when the tape is running for reading a stored question from the tape and transmitting it in audible form to the interviewee; an answer storage tape adapted for storing a series of answers given by the interviewee, and having associated means responsive to an answer in audible form for storing it on the answer tape; manually operable means for starting said question storage tape in the first instance, so as to generate the first question of the series; and timing and control means including a. first means responsive if the question is not answered within a predetermined period of time for causing the question storage tape to automatically generate the next question of the series; b. second means responsive to an answer that is initiated before commencement of the next question for stopping the question storage tape; and c. third means responsive while an answer is being given for keeping the question storage tape stopped, and responsive to the end of an answer for re-starting the question storage tape; whereby the interviewee upon initiating his answer within said predetermined period of time may give as long an answer as he desires, and upon completion of his answer the machine automatically generates the next question of the series.
 3. An interview machine as claimed in claim 2 which further includes means for recording the questions on said answer storage tape, and wherein said answer storage tape is removable from the machine.
 4. The interview machine of claim 2 wherein said timing and control means includes a first signal presence detector coupled to the output of said question storage tape, a first timer coupled to the output of said first signal prEsence detector, a second signal presence detector coupled to the input of said answer storage tape, and a second timer coupled to the output of said second signal presence detector; the outputs of said first and second timers being coupled to said drive means for respectively stopping or starting the question storage tape; and the output of said first timer being also coupled to the input of said second timer for initiating the timing cycle of said second timer concurrently with the stopping of the question storage tape.
 5. The interview machine of claim 2 wherein said timing and control means includes an ''''and'''' circuit having inputs coupled to the output of said question storage tape and the input of said answer storage tape and an output coupled to said drive means, said ''''and'''' circuit being responsive to the absence of a question concurrent with the presence of an answer for stopping the question storage tape.
 6. The interview machine of claim 5 wherein said drive means includes a flip-flop to which said ''''and'''' circuit output is coupled, and which further includes a timer having inputs coupled both to the input of said answer storage tape and to an output of said flip-flop, said timer being responsive when the question storage tape is stopped for timing a predetermined period of time after an answer has been completed, the output of said timer being coupled to another input of said flip-flop for then re-starting the question storage tape.
 7. An interview machine whose operation is controlled in part in response to the verbal answers of the person being interviewed, comprising: a question storage memory unit; an answer recording memory unit having a first input to which said question storage memory unit is coupled; drive means for driving said question storage memory unit and said answer recording memory unit; question storage drive control means coupled to said drive means for controlling the operation of said question storage memory unit; a speaker coupled to said question storage memory unit for communicating questions to the interviewee; a microphone and a recording amplifier coupled to said answer recording memory unit for transmitting thereto answers from the interviewee; manually operable start means coupled to said question storage drive control means for initiating the generation of the first question of the interview; and an interview control system including a. first electronic signal detection means having an input coupled to said question storage memory unit, b. second electronic signal detection means having an input coupled to said recording amplifier, and c. electronic control means including a first timer coupled to said first detection means and a second timer coupled to said second detection means, both of said timers having their outputs coupled to said question storage drive control means for controlling the times at which succeeding questions will be generated; whereby the conduct of the interview when once initiated is controlled by the machine without manual intervention by the interviewee.
 8. An interview machine as claimed in claim 7 wherein said answer recordng memory unit includes a removable magnetic tape. 